Movable piece puzzle

ABSTRACT

A puzzle comprises a holder (1) defining a field of movement for rectangular pieces (5,6,7) which are slidable within said holder, the problem being to effect a sequence of displacements which will bring a key-piece (7) to a position at the opposite end of the holder (1). The key-piece can then be further moved to cause a portion (9) thereof to project out of the holder, through an aperture (8). The key-piece is in the form of a container for confectionery pieces or other objects which can be removed only by solving the puzzle and moving the key-piece (7) into said projecting position.

This invention relates to puzzles of a kind comprising one or moremovable members and a holder defining an area within which suchmember(s) is (are) bodily displaceable in a given plane but so that aproblem is involved in finding a sequence of displacements which willbring the or a particular member into a predetermined (hereafter called"home") position.

Some known puzzles of this kind are in the form of a maze. The holdersupports a pattern of barrier walls within the field of movement of amovable member and the problem is to discover a route along which suchmember can move to reach the "home" position.

Other known puzzles of the kind referred to comprise a plurality ofmovable pieces assembled like pieces of a mosaic within a holder whichleaves restricted free space, and the problem is to re-arrange theassembly by successive movements of pieces, to bring a given one of thepieces (hereafter called the "key-piece") to the "home" position. Suchmosaic puzzles, like the maze puzzles above referred to, can obviouslybe of various degrees of difficulty. A mosaic puzzle which is verytesting of patience and skill can be posed by apparatus comprising aholder which defines a rectangular field of movement for a plurality ofpieces having in their plane of movement rectangular shapes of varioussizes each of which is equal to or a multiple of a square module whichis an aliquot portion of the said rectangular field, the free oruncovered area in the field being greater than the area of some but notall of the pieces. One piece can be larger than any of the others andsuch largest piece can be the key-piece which has to be brought to the"home" position. There may for example be at least four square piecesequal in size to the basic module, a number of rectangular pieces oflength and breadth dimensions 2L×1L where L is the edge length of thebasic module, and a single square component of edge length 2L. Aparticular example of such a puzzle is described in British Patentspecification No. 592.536.

According to the present invention a puzzle of the kind referred to inthe first paragraph of this specification incorporates or is associatedwith a container so that an exit mouth of the container via whichcontents of the container can be removed is free or freeable to allowpassage of contents from the container only when the or a particularmovable member has been brought into the "home" position.

The container of a device according to the invention can be used forexample as a confectionery packaging device.

The puzzle of a device according to the invention can e.g. be of a mazeor mosaic type as hereinbefore referred to.

In preferred embodiments of the invention the member whose displacementinto the "home" position signifies successful solution of the puzzle isitself formed to serve as the container. Preferably the holder providesa support surface underlying the movable member(s) and the saiddisplaceable member-cum-container is in the form of an inverted boxwhose mouth is closed by said support surface until such member is movedinto the "home" position. Advantageously the said member has a stepportion, i.e. a portion of reduced height, along one margin and theholder for the pieces provides in the vicinity of the "home" position aboundary wall aperture of sufficient height to allow such step portionto protrude therethrough. In these circumstances there need be noaperture in the said underlying support surface because contents of thedisplaceable member-cum-container can exit via the open bottom of thestep portion when it is in that protruding position. As an alternativeto that construction, the said underlying support surface can have anexit aperture with which an opening at the bottom of the saidmember/container registers when that member is in its "home" position.In such embodiments of the invention the puzzle is preferably of themosaic type hereinbefore referred to, the container being formed by thekey-piece. It is very satisfactory for example for the puzzle pieces tobe rectanguloid pieces of various shapes in plan aspect e.g. asdescribed in British patent specification No. 592.536 already mentioned.

In another embodiment of the invention the puzzle forms or forms part ofthe closure of an adjoining container. For example the mouth of thecontainer may be covered by a plate over which the movable member(s) ofthe puzzle is (are) displaceable and which has a local exit aperture forthe contents of the container, and the said displaceable member or aparticular one of them if there is more than one, can have an aperturewhich registers with said aperture in the cover plate only when suchmember is in its "home" position. In such embodiments of the invention,the puzzle can be of a maze or mosaic type.

The movable member(s) of the puzzle may be retained in the plane ofdisplacement by retaining means on the holder. In the case of a mosaictype puzzle the movable pieces can be retained by retaining means on theholder or in part by such means and in part by an inter-engagement ofthe pieces with each other e.g. as hereafter exemplified. Retainingmeans on the holder may e.g. comprise a top grid with open areassufficient to allow access of a finger to the movable member(s), ormarginal retaining lips extending inwardly from boundary or barrierwalls of or in the field of movement of said member(s).

An embodiment of the invention, selected by way of example, isillustrated in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a puzzle-cum-container,

FIG. 2 is a side view of one of the elongate playing pieces and

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the largest playing piece, which is thekey-piece.

The puzzle comprises a holder 1 comprising a bottom wall 2 and aperipheral vertical wall 3 which forms a continous boundary of the fieldof movement of ten playing pieces which are slidable relative to eachother within that field, subject to the restrictions imposed by thatboundary wall and the limited area of the free space available withinthat field. A retaining lip 4 projects inwardly from the top of thevertical boundary wall 3 so as to overlie marginal portions of whateverplaying pieces are for the time being against that wall.

Considering the playing pieces in plan aspect, there are four smallsquare pieces 5, five rectangular pieces 6 each of which is twice thesize of one of the small squares, and a large square piece 7 (the"key-piece") which is four times the size of a small square. Theaggregate area of the playing pieces is accordingly equal to eighteensmall squares. The field of movement defined by the holder is equal totwently small squares.

To solve the puzzle sequential sliding movements of pieces 5-7 have tobe made (usually only one piece can be moved a time) to bring thekey-piece 7 into a position alongside and centrally of what in theaspect of FIG. 1 is the nearest side of the boundary wall 3 of theholder, at which position there is an aperture 8 in that wall. Forconvenience that side of the holder will be referred to as the front. Asappears most clearly in FIG. 3, the key-piece has along one margin aportion of reduced height forming a step 9. This step is sufficientlyshallow to be pushed through the said holder aperture 8.

All of the playing pieces are open at the bottom.

In other words they have the form of open-topped boxes which have beeninverted. The key-piece 7 contains confectionary, and it is of courseclosed at the bottom by the bottom wall 2 of the holder. When thekey-piece-cum-container 7 has been brought into a position alongside andopposite the aperture 8 it can then be pushed further forward to advanceits step 9 through the slot 8. For this puzzle that advanced position isthe "home" position. When the key-piece is in that "home" positionconfectionery can exit from the bottom of the step portion 9. The puzzleis of a convenient size for holding in one hand, the outside dimensionsof the holder being, for example 88 mm×71 mm×18 mm. By placing the otherhand beneath the step of the key piece as it advances through theaperture 8 and by advancing the step portion 9 only partly through theaperture 8, the user can if desired restrain the fall of confectionerypieces and allow only one or two pieces to escape. The pieces of thepuzzle can of course be "re-shuffled" to prepare the puzzle for re-usewith the playing pieces in their original start positions or in otherstart positions. The puzzle therefore has a continuing usefulness evenif the key-piece-cum-container is empty. This piece can of course bere-filled with confectionery or other objects if so desired.

Each of the playing pieces has a horizontal rib, such as the rib 10 ofpiece 6 shown in FIG. 2, which rib extends along the major part of eachof two adjacent sides of the piece. A groove such as the groove 11 ofpiece 6 shown in FIG. 2 extends along the other two sides of each piece.The cross-sectional dimensions of the ribs and grooves are such that theribs and grooves of adjacent faces of contiguous pieces inter-engagewhile allowing relative sliding motion of the pieces. Considering thepuzzle in its FIG. 1 orientation, the north and west sides of each ofthe playing pieces carry the rib and the east and south sides of eachcomponent have the groove, and as all the pieces maintain their initialnorth-south orientation during use the situation never arises in whichtwo grooved sides are together or two ribbed faces obstruct movement oftwo pieces alongside each other. The inter-engagement of the ribs andgrooves, and the overlapping of the outer pieces by the retaining lip 4on the holder combine to prevent the pieces from falling out of theholder if it is inverted.

It is very suitable for the holder and playing pieces of the illustratedpuzzle to be plastics mouldings.

The illustrated puzzle-cum-container can be used as a packaging devicefor various objects and materials. In the confectionery field it is verysuitable for use in retailing mints, which have a relatively longshelf-life.

By way of modification of the illustrated embodiment of the invention,the bottom wall 2 of the holder could be provided with an openingthrough which contents of the container-cum-key piece 7 can exit whenthe key piece is in a position alongside and centrally of the front sideof the holder. In such an embodiment, that position of the key-piece isits "home" position and there is of course no need for the aperture 8.In a said modification, the container-cum-key-piece can have a bottomwall with a small local aperture and/or the opening in the bottom wall 2of the holder can be smaller than the bottom area of the key-piece sothat the passageway for the exit of objects from the container isrelatively restricted.

As a further modification, the key-piece 7 can be made shallow enough topermit the entire key-piece to pass through the aperture 8 after thepuzzle has been solved by bringing the key-piece into position alongsideand in register with that aperture.

In any given embodiment of the invention the device, in addition tohaving said exit mouth which is freed by solving the puzzle, can beformed to enable contents of the container to be removed without solvingthe puzzle, should this for any reason be required. For example, in apuzzle-cum-container of the form represented in the accompanyingdrawings, the holder 1 can have one or more weakened zones to enable thebottom wall 2 or a portion thereof to be easily removed or broken so asto leave a bottom opening through which the contents of thecontainer-cum-key piece 7 can escape. Such removable or breakable zonemay for example be so located and be of such size that said bottomopening communicates with the interior of said piece 7 whatever be itsposition in the holder or only when that piece is in its illustratedinitial position.

I claim:
 1. A puzzle comprising a holder, at least one member retainedwithin said holder for movement by hand solely in one plane within anarea defined by said holder, a home position in said holder forselectively receiving said member upon movement thereof in said oneplane, means in said holder for physically restricting freedom ofmovement of said member and requiring a sequence of movements to movesaid member to said home position when said member is within said holderand remote from said home position, said movable member being acontainer for material, said member having a materials exit mouth, saidholder including means permitting discharge of material through saidexit mouth solely when said container is in said home position.
 2. Apuzzle which comprises a holder with a displacement area definedtherein, an assembly of pieces held within said displacement area forslidable movement in one plane within said displacement area, saiddisplacement area restricting movement of said pieces and allowingshuffled movement of said pieces only by sequential sliding movements ofdifferent pieces, thereby defining a problem in determining a sequenceof such movements which will bring a key piece to a predetermined homeposition in said area from a position remote from said home position,said assembly of pieces including said key piece in the form of a boxfor holding material, said key piece having a materials exit mouth andmeans on said holder preventing access to said exit mouth in anyposition other than said home position.
 3. A puzzle according to claim2, wherein said key piece contains confectionery.
 4. A puzzle comprisinga holder having a bottom wall defining a playing surface, and aperipheral wall rising from said playing surface and forming acontinuous rectangular boundary to the playing surface of said bottomwall, a plurality of rectangular playing pieces of different sizeslocated on said playing surface and retained by said peripheral wall,said pieces being individually slidable over said playing surface forrearrangement into a variety of positions within the holder, saidplaying surface including a home position, one of said playing piecesbeing in the form of a box for holding material, said box-formed piecehaving a bottom outlet which is covered by said bottom wall of theholder in all positions other than said home position, said holderhaving, at the home position, an opening allowing discharge of materialfrom the bottom outlet of said box-formed piece, the amount of spaceavailable on the playing field within said holder for the movements ofsaid pieces being so limited relative to the size of the pieces as torequire sequential sliding movements of a number of pieces to bring saidbox-formed piece to said home position from a position remote from saidhome position, thereby defining a problem involved in determining asequence of movements which will achieve a home position for thebox-formed piece.
 5. A puzzle according to claim 4, wherein saidbox-formed piece includes a step portion of reduced height, said openingin said holder being defined in said peripheral wall in the vicinity ofsaid home position, said opening being of sufficient height to allowsuch step portion to be advanced therethrough to allow discharge ofmaterial from said box-form piece.